CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A 900-plus home development on Powell Road has been given the green light by the Regional Planning Commission, despite objections from residents in the area.
The Clarksville-Montgomery County RPC approved the site plan for the new subdivision on Powell Road at a meeting last week, as well as a variance allowing the subdivision to have less than the standard number of access points.
The development has drawn objections from more than 1,000 petitioners, many of whom have expressed concerns about the limited number of access points.
At last week’s meeting, developer Burt Singletary told commissioners he plans to alleviate traffic concerns by connecting Powell Road to Dunbar Cave Road, providing a second exit for the area. Current regulations require a total of four exits for a development of this size; however, the variance approved by the RPC will allow the project to move forward.
‘No more variances please’
One of the largest concerns for Powell Road residents is the existing traffic issues. The only current exit from Powell Road is onto Rossview Road in an area that is undergoing rapid development. A traffic light is being installed at the top of the road.
Powell Road resident Mark Augustini, who has spoken against the development on multiple occasions, told Clarksville Now he likens the situation to a scene from The Big Short in which the main characters play a game of Jenga, and the tower falls due to inadequate support.
“I liken that to what’s happened here on Powell Road. You have rules in place, they’re city codes. The codes weren’t written in a vacuum. They’re written to provide safety and adequate access to emergency vehicles and for the development of your town,” Augustini said. “Just like the Jenga game, instead of four points of contact, you have three. Then, you travel a few months down the road and there’s another subdivision comes along and it gets a pass on one of the codes. Finally, you get to a point where you have four or five of these things converging on a single geographical area.
“Then you have a developer come in and they want to put in a small town right in the center of a small area where you’ve had all these variances build up. The result is, you’re creating not just traffic issues, but safety issues, overcrowding issues. All we were asking for is, ‘City, no more variances please.'”
Augustini said he and his fellow Powell Road residents ask why the approximately 500 homes allowed under existing codes are not enough, and why a variance is needed to allow over 900.
Phase 3 on hold
While the RPC did approve the variance requested by Singletary, an amendment by RPC member and City Council member Stacey Streetman places some limitations on the development. Under Streetman’s amendment, only the first two phases of the subdivision, a total of 582 lots, may by built at this time. The remaining homes will have to wait until the road projects currently underway at Rossview and Dunbar Cave Road are complete.
Augustini said it will offer another way off of Powell Road, but will also bring more traffic.
“I think her argument was, ‘Hey, we finally got a second way out on Powell.’ There’s some merit to that, and yeah we wanted that, but at what price?” Augustini said.